Veteran Burnley defender Michael Duff believes manager Sean Dyche could one day take charge of England.

Dyche, 43, has a growing reputation having overseen a remarkable transformation of fortunes since arriving at Turf Moor in October 2012.

The former Chesterfield defender made a nonsense of the relegation favourites' tag to lead the Clarets to an unlikely promotion from the Championship to the top flight last season.

This term they are attempting to defy the odds again and with eight games remaining they have a fighting chance of survival in the Barclays Premier League. Burnley are next in action on Sunday when they host Tottenham.

Duff, 37, said: "He has been first class. I've learned a lot from him, little things he does, and I think he will go on to be a top manager.

"Hopefully he will stay here a bit longer and (Burnley will) achieve some more with him. I cannot see why somebody will not give him an opportunity from what he has done here."

Asked if he would be surprised if former Watford boss Dyche ever managed England, Duff said: "No, in a word, having worked with him and the way he gets the best out of players.

"Most of our players have played the majority of their careers in the Championship or lower than that and we are competing against multi, multi-million pound squads and we are alive and kicking.

"So, he has managed to get the best out of us. If he can do that at a higher level, why not?"

Duff has hopes of following Dyche into management himself after retirement.

The former Northern Ireland international still intends to prolong a career that has seen him play in the country's top-eight tiers with Cheltenham and Burnley, but he has firm plans for life beyond it.

He said: "I've done my Pro Licence and I want to stay in football after I've finished playing.

"I have no plans to stop playing at the minute. I still love getting up for training in the morning. It's not a bad job running around chasing after a football.

"But you look at the game differently when you get to my age. The Pro Licence is nearly all based on management, so you look at sessions differently, look at the manager's presentations - and this one isn't a bad manager to learn from."